John Bowlby
British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, founder of attachment theory
British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who proposed that attachment is an evolved behaviour protecting infants. His 1951 World Health Organization report and the Attachment and Loss volumes shaped thinking on child care and hospital practice.
Why this person matters
Bowlby drew on ethology to argue that infants need a continuous relationship with a primary caregiver. Mary Ainsworth extended and tested his ideas, and James Robertson's film of children in hospital supported them.
Main contributions
Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves
Published in 1944, the study compared 44 children who had stolen with non-stealing controls. Prolonged separation before age five was found in 17 of the thieves and 2 of the controls.
Maternal Care and Mental Health
Commissioned by the World Health Organization in 1949 on homeless children in post-war Europe and published in 1951, the report argued that infants need continuous care from a primary caregiver.
Attachment and Loss
The trilogy appeared as Attachment (1969), Separation: Anxiety and Anger (1972 or 1973, sources differ) and Loss: Sadness and Depression (1980). He drew on the ethology of Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen and considered attachment behaviour instinctive.
Context and limits
Psychoanalysts rejected his views, and he was effectively ostracised by the psychoanalytic community. Critics citing Michael Rutter (1981) objected that he confused privation with deprivation. Governments concerned with jobs for returning servicemen used the report to discourage mothers from working or using day care. James Robertson's 1952 film A Two-Year Old Goes to Hospital, shown with Bowlby to the British Psychoanalytical Society, recorded the distress of separated children.
In your introductory course
Lifespan development.He appears in development chapters as the originator of attachment theory, alongside Ainsworth's Strange Situation.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 9.3. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1944
He published Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves.
- 1951
He published the WHO report Maternal Care and Mental Health.
- 1969
He published Attachment, the first volume of the trilogy.
- 1980
He published Loss: Sadness and Depression.
Sources
- New World Encyclopedia, John BowlbyReference work. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, John BowlbyReference work. Reference article inspected.